Hints to Help With Grading Papers

I taught English and creative writing for 35 years, and I don’t even want to calculate how many hours of my life were spent with pen in hand grading papers such as essays, practice assignments, journal entries, short stories, articles, and tests.

I once piled a huge stack of spiral notebooks on top of my car while I unlocked the car door and then drove off accidentally leaving a trail of spiral notebooks all over the parking lot. Oops!

Although I was never able to escape the grading process, I did learn a few things along the way that made life easier for me. Here are a few hints that might help.

1) Always prepare a rubric to give to the students along with a composition assignment. A thoughtfully prepared rubric will clarify exactly what you are expecting the students to write, and the papers will be better and easier to grade.

2) You don’t have to grade everything. Sometimes, practice papers should be just for practice and not for a grade. Verify that the student did indeed complete the assignment, but don’t grade it. If you wish to assign a grade because the student turned in the completed assignment on time, great! I would often assign a plus sign (if the paper appeared to be complete), a minus sign (if the paper was a half-hearted attempt), or a zero if the paper was not turned in at all.

3) You don’t have to evaluate every element of every paper. If, for example, your students have been working on how to write a thesis statement, just grade the thesis statement and not the whole paper.

4) Have your students peer edit each other’s papers and then revise their compositions before they turn them in to you.

5) Let your students grade each other’s papers whenever the assignment requires short answers or multiple choices. If the students trade and grade while you go over the answers with the entire class, you are providing another chance for students to learn. Immediate feedback is always a good idea.

6) Although you can always use a calculator to determine a student’s numerical grade, it is so much easier to use a grading chart. Laminate one or two and keep a copy wherever you might be likely to grade papers: your desk, your car, your home.

For products that help with all of the hints above, visit my store.

Try a grading scale chart.

Practice writing a thesis statement.

Prepare a rubric.

Good luck with grading your stack of papers.
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Visit the web site on January 20 and 21st and enter the code START16 at checkout. Everything in my store is 28% off including my Simple Steps to Sentence Sense books and bundles. It's a great time to clear out your wish list and save lots of money.

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I hope you have a very successful teaching year in 2016. Let me know if I can help with any grammar or usage questions. You can always email me at charlenetess@yahoo.com or leave a comment below.

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HOTS HIgher Order Thinking Skills Are Important

Whenever possible, find a way to promote Higher Order Thinking Skills into your daily lessons.

Students must do more than just memorize and retell information. They have to think about what they have learned and not just play back information like a tape recorder does. 

They will more easily retain the information they learn if they have to use those facts or manipulate them.

Examples of the ways they can reach higher thinking levels are to predict, estimate, define, evaluate, diagram, construct, order, classify, identify, etc.

Encourage your students to think!

Click here to purchase a HOTS Classification Exercise from my store.  

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Useful Tools for Readers

Click Here To View This Lesson in My Store

Identifying the elements of a novel is a skill that will help your student gain appreciation for the books that they read. Once they are proficient in identifying the elements in this lesson, it will be easy for them to discuss and write about the novels they are assigned or those they choose to read. 

After your students finish reading a novel, this guide will help them identify the following elements:

Plot (Exposition, Complications, Climax, Resolution)

Setting

Conflict (s)

Protagonist

Antagonist

Major Characters

Point of View

Tone

Theme(s)

Narrative Techniques

Frame Story

Flashback

Letters of a Diary

Dialect

Symbolism

Parable

Satire or Parody

Verbal Irony

Situational Irony

Dramatic Irony

Foreshadowing

Reading a novel is a rewarding experience, and especially so if one knows what literary techniques the author used to enrich his or her writing. As the student reads, it is helpful to keep a reading reaction journal in which they can take notes to use for future reference.

Click here for a lesson that shows students how to keep a Reading Reaction Journal that will help them remember and analyze what they have read. Teachers can use the journal to evaluate whether or not students are doing a close reading of assigned literary works. 

This is a valuable tool for you and your students, and it is especially useful as a study tool for AP students while reading advanced literary selections. 

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Gluten Be Gone

Hints for Newly Diagnosed Celiacs

Although it can take years to become fully familiar with the task of living gluten free, it is possible to quickly learn how to be safe and still eat and live well. I am not a doctor or a medical practitioner of any kind. I am not an expert. I am not a pharmacist. I am not a nutritionist. Always check with a professional if you have a question of any kind.

 The information and resources presented in this book are not intended to replace or substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult your doctor for professional medical advice.

 This book is in no way a scientific document. It is a summary of the steps my family took to go gluten free when my grandson was diagnosed with celiac disease at the age of six. I am happy to say, so far we have not had one incident in which he ingested gluten.

 We rarely eat at restaurants, and do not trust them, but we have learned how to eat well at home. It has become second nature to us. I hope this information will help you get started. After a while you will have a system of your own, and this way of life will become second nature to you as well. It is not easy, but it is possible to stay safe, live gluten free, and have a great life.

Click here to find Gluten Be Gone in the Kindle Book Store.. You can read the eBook on any tablet, smart phone, or computer.

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